The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personæ to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Contemporary reviews all praised the play's humor, though some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages, while others foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde's artistic career so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play. Tossup Questions # One character in this play claims that he cannot get an appetite until he receives a pink rose for his buttonhole. The value of the "three-volume novel" is discussed shortly before the arrival of Dr. Chasuble, who is scheduled to rechristen one of the central characters of this play. That character is later revealed to have been the baby abandoned at Victoria Station by Miss Prism, which allows Jack Worthing to marry Gwendolyn Fairfax, and Algernon to stop "Bunburying." For 10 points, name this last completed English play of Oscar Wilde. # The first act of this play is set in a building on Half-Moon Street, where one character notes that the "truth is rarely pure and never simple." In Tom Stoppard's Travesties, the diplomat Henry Carr remembers acting in a Zurich production of this play. In it, tension rises when one character produces a cigarette case engraved by Cecily. Miss Prism's revelation that she had left a baby in a handbag at Victoria station causes Jack to realize that he is the brother of Algernon Moncrieff in this play. For 10 points, name this play whose title is a pun on a name's similarity to a word meaning "sincere," a work by Oscar Wilde. # One scene in this play sees the butler Merriman instructed to tell a dogcart to return a week later. One man in this play has a servant named Lane who tells guests that there are no available cucumbers in the market that day. Two friends in this play accuse each other of * "Bunburying," as one character pretends he has an invalid friend in the country, and another pretends he has an unscrupulous brother in the city. One character in this play pretends to be Jack Worthing's brother while visiting Cecily Cardew, and Jack wishes to marry Gwendolen Fairfax. For 10 points, name this play in which Gwendolen and Cecily express their liking of a certain name, a play by Oscar Wilde. # A servant in this play is forced to lie about the availability of cucumbers at the market because another character eats all of the sandwiches before the guests arrive. One character in this play notes that Lady Harbury looks "twenty years younger" after the death of her husband. This play opens with the sound of piano playing in an apartment on Half Moon Street. Miss Prism and Doctor Chaucible pass the afternoon in a garden and discuss morality in this play, before another character notes that one should know everything, or nothing. That character is Lady Bracknell, who grills a character who enjoys "Bunburying" on his suitability for her ward. Also concerning Cecily and Algernon, for 10 points, name this Oscar Wilde play whose title refers to Gwendolen's desire for a husband of a certain name. # A character in this play talks about "agricultural depression," an epidemic among the aristocracy. Another character has refuted Anabaptist views in four unpublished sermons. That character, Dr. Chasuble, is in love with the governess Miss Prism, who eventually reveals that she once lost a baby by placing it in a handbag. Gwendolen's cousin loves Cecily and later reveals that he escapes obligations by visiting a fictitious friend named Bunbury, while at the end of this play Lady Bracknell reveals Jack's real name. For 10 points, name this comedy in which Jack and Algernon Moncrieff both pretend to be the character referenced in the title, a comedy by Oscar Wilde.